2021 NBA Draft Grades: Memphis Grizzlies Acquire A 'C' For Ziaire Williams At No. 10 Total

Saturday, July 31, 2021

2021 NBA Draft Grades: Memphis Grizzlies Acquire A 'C' For Ziaire Williams At No. 10 Total

Getty Image

When accounting for injuries that kept both Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow sidelined for the majority of the season, the 2020-21 campaign was fairly kind to the Memphis Grizzlies. They were defeated in tidy fashion by the top-seeded Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, but Memphis turned in an encouraging 38-34 season behind Ja Morant, with plenty of hope for the future.

Memphis has drafted quite well in the recent past, unearthing gems in Desmond Bane, Xavier Tillman, Brandon Clarke and Dillon Brooks. The Grizzlies are clearly building the ship around that but, beyond the clear need for more perimeter shooting and creation around Morant, this is a roster that doesn’t have screaming issues and that opens things up for the team’s brain trust to focus on value. They made a big move in trading Jonas Valanciunas to New Orleans to move up to the 10th pick from 17, taking on Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams’ salaries in the process, seeming to indicate they had their eyes on someone in particular.

Roster Needs: Shooting (and health for Jaren Jackson Jr.), another big wing

Ziaire Williams (No. 10 Overall), Grade: C+

Williams is a fascinating prospect. He endured a brutal season in myriad ways and, if you simply scouted Williams from his time at Stanford, this pick would seem quite aggressive. At the same time, he has the length and shooting potential to return value here. If anything, I’m probably higher on Williams than some, but the knock on this pick would be that players like Moses Moody were still available.

2021-22 Roster Steven Adams Eric Bledsoe (expected to be bought out or traded) Dillon Brooks Kyle Anderson Ja Morant Jaren Jackson Jr. Ziaire Williams De’Anthony Melton Tyus Jones Grayson Allen Brandon Clarke John Konchar Desmond Bane Jontay Porter (non-guaranteed) Xavier Tillman

Free Agents Tim Frazier (UFA) Killian Tillie (RFA) Justise Winslow (Team Option)